The US town of Santa Barbara is a laid back mixture of glamour, Spanish charm, parties and beaches.

Located south of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles on America's Pacific coast, Santa Barbara has long been a favourite with stars.

The Californian resort town has a Spanish-Mexican charm, though most of its pretty colonial architecture is the result of major rebuilding work carried out after an earthquake in 1925.

With a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants, Santa Barbara is a relatively small city and home to retirees, stars, rich young couples and students who attend the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Warm all year round, it is a tidy, attractive place to visit, with excellent shopping in the many boutiques, great restaurants and upscale bars.

Originally inhabited by the Chumash tribe of Native Americans for more than 12,000 years, European settlers arrived in the area in the 1700s. Spanish cartographer Sebastian Vizcaino named the harbour after a saint following a difficult journey in the early 17th century, but it was not settled until 1782 when a group of Spanish soldiers crossed from Mexico and built a military fort.

The state fell to the US in 1848 and the discovery of gold and silver shortly afterwards caused the region to boom, with Santa Barbara becoming a popular holiday destination for wealthy East Coast Americans from the 1880s. It has since proved a hit with tourists, film industry professionals, celebrities and business people.

The 18th century Presidio, or military fort, is still standing, as is the old mission, with its Chumash decorations, the courthouse and a number of other colonial buildings, mainly in the Spanish style.

Santa Barbara has a zoo, charming botanic gardens and a number of good museums, including the art and natural history museums, the Carriage and Western Art Museum, the Karpeles Manuscript Library and the Santa Barbara Visitor Center.

The state beaches in and around Santa Barbara are particularly good, with watersports and diving activities on offer.

The area around Santa Barbara provides some pretty driving and countryside both to the north and the south and the town is surrounded by wine country, with dozens of vineyards to visit. The Channel Islands National Park between Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz is home to more than 100 unique plant and animal species.

Dining in Santa Barbara is eclectic, with a dizzying array of styles of cuisine and types of restaurant on offer to suit most tastes and budgets. Accommodation tends to be pricey and fairly basic in the numerous motels and bed and breakfasts and it is wise to book early as the town is busy year round.

In the evenings, Santa Barbara has a number of good theatres, with productions ranging from large-scale affairs to small studio productions, and numerous lively bars and cafes.

The resort has its own small airport with flights from US cities and a regular bus service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco.